John Milton “Mickey” Rivers (October 31, 1948-) took the reigns from Yogi Berra as Major League Baseball’s next generation wordsmith, spouting ridiculous, but memorable quotes, throughout his 15-year career in the big leagues. Mickey was drafted three times (January 1968 – Chicago White Sox, June 1968 - New York Mets, January 1969 – Washington Senators) and eventually the Atlanta Braves took him in the second round of the 1969 MLB Amateur Draft, to which he finally signed. But, after a season in the minor leagues, Atlanta shipped Rivers to the California Angels for Bob Priddy and knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm. River was an excellent leadoff man with the ability to slap-hit his way on base and use his speed to swipe bags with the best of them. In 1974, he enjoyed a breakout year with the halos as he batted .285 with 30 stolen bases and a league-leading 11 triples. In 1975, he bettered those numbers, once again leading the American League with 13 triples but also with 70 stolen bases – 30 more than Oakland’s Claudell Washington. After six seasons in California (1970-1975), Mickey was traded to the New York Yankees (1976-1979). He helped lead the Bronx Bombers to three straight American League pennants (1976-1978) and the 1977 and 1978 World Series championships. Mickey’s speed helped him post a .982 fielding percentage in centerfield with 3,150 putouts, but his weak arm only gave him 95 assists in more than 1,200 games. In 1979, the 1976 All-Star was shipped to the Texas Rangers (1979-1984) and had his best all-around season in Arlington in 1980 as he hit .333 with 210 hits and 60 RBI. After an injury-plagued 1982 season, Mickey was asked what his plans for 1983 were and he brilliantly responded, “I’d like to hit .300, score 100 runs and stay injury-prone.” Mickey Rivers finished his career in Texas in 1984 having collected 1,660 hits, 785 runs, 71 triples, 267 stolen bases and 499 RBI while batting a respectable .295 in 1,468 games.